New start 25 Cruising

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New start 25 Cruising

James was up early, dressed and just heading to the mess hall when Chris called him,

Chris: we have 10 unidentified craft heading toward the station, I have 6 fighters on ready stand by,

James: ok I’m heading to my ship notify Jeff,

Chris: wilco, be careful out there.

James entered his ship: Jake get ready to fly,

Jake roger hatch secured lifting off,

James climbed in to his seat and strapped in, checked the weapons load out then checked the sector, saw the patrol of five ships from the Phoenix 1 heading toward the unidentified craft coming from the east gate, then saw 7 more coming from the west gate, Chris launch the ready fighters direct them toward the west gate we have more unidentified craft coming thru there.

Jeff: morning James I’m on your Nine.

James good to have you, a hell of way to start the day,

Jake: identified 14 falcons 3 Buzzards and 4 Scorpions, James looked at the display saw that there were 10 fighters coming from the east and 10 from the west: Jake set intercept coarse to the eastern flight.

Jake: roger intercept in 10 Sezuras, weapons armed and ready

James saw that the fighters had opened fire on the patrol gp and 1 hawk was damaged with 2 fighters closing on it.

James, selected the first fighter and marked the other one for Jeff,

Jake: tgt entering firing range, firing, tgt launching missiles, turrets tracking firing, main guns firing, tgt fleeing shields at 30%,

James turned to pursue the tgt while Jake kept firing till the pilot ejected,

Jeff had already disabled the other tge when James got back to the scene, Hawk 22 was still drifting near by

James: Jake scan the hawk and see if the pilot is hurt,

Jake roger,

James: Jeff cap the ships then assist the others I’M checking Hawk 22,

Jeff: roger.

Jake the ship has damage to the shields generator the engines are offline, and the AI has been disabled, the pilot is unconscious, and has been injured,

James: can you take control of the ship and dock it,

Jake: yes, roger starting systems, engaging thrusters, the Phoenix 2 is closer docking is 20 Sezuras,

James: roger, Chris I’m sending in one of ours with an injured pilot have him transported to sick bay and have the engineers check out the fighter tie AI had been damages, I want to know how.

Chris: roger, I let Phoenix 1 know, Mike and Sam are supporting My fighters and Randy has a flight of 5 out and patrolling, so far we have 14 Falcons and 1 buzzard and 1 scorpion caped and inbound to the carrier, the others are being pursued 1 buzzard and 1 Scorpion destroyed 2 pilots dead 16 captured.

James: roger, see you when I land.

Chris: Roger

Jeff: I’ve capped the ships and picked up 5 pilots, Ill follow you in,

James: roger

Jake: approaching Phoenix 2, entering ship, landing, hatch open,

James exited the ship Chris along with a security team was waiting, Hawk 22 was parked with 4 engineers working on it. James walked up to Chris while the security team was entering Jeff’s ship: any word on H22,

Chris: not yet the pilot is in stasis till the Dr figures out how bad he is. The Engineers will report to me when they are finished checking out the ship, lets go get some breakfast,

James: sounds good to me, let me grab Jeff.

While James was eating his Hot cakes an engineer walked up and handed a data pad to Chris,

Chris red the report, main life support unit damaged, being replaced, 1 shield damaged being replaced, Minor hull damage being repaired, IA disconnected? Reconnected logs review has been disabled for three Wozuras. Other ship systems ok,

James: so the pilot had disconnect the AI, and the maintenance crew never reported it.

Chris: the pilot disconnected the AI, we’ll have to review the maintenance logs to see if it had been reported.

James, This cant happen again, I want to talk to the Phoenix 1 Maintenance Officer and have him bring the logs on H22, in the conference room in 1 Stazura also have your Maintenance Officer and the one from Ore Belt station, along with the CAG’s, Jeff you Mike and Sam come with me,

James got up and led the partners to the conference room and secured the door.

Mike: who in there right mind would disable there AI?

Jeff: Dennis King evidently thought it was a good ideal.

Sam: I don’t think it was a good decision on his part.

James: I know It wasn’t, My question is how do we prevent it in the future.

Sam: hard wire it into the ship.

Jeff, provide it with a separate power supply, and an over ride to disable the ship if it is turned off or bypassed.

Mike: lets ask the AI,

James: ok Jake

Jake: yes

James; how can we prevent the pilots from disabling the AI, and have the AI take control and protect the ship and pilot ,

Jake: Independent power supply for AI, the AI control ship systems, added shielding for ship computer,

James: does the ship have room for the upgraded you have specified?

Jake: yes with a loss of 10 cargo slots,

James : how long will it take to have the upgrades installed,?

Jake: 2 Stazuras or less, per ship

James : ok Ill have it done, I want you to pull the combat logs from Hawk 22 and send them to my data pad,

Jake: roger \: do you want me to implement the upgrades?

James: no I will have the Maintenance officer do that.

Jake: roger, Ill have the logs transferred in 5 Mizuras.

James: I hope this will prevent our pilots from being hurt.

There was a knock on the door, Jeff got up to answer it, as he opened the door, and Chris walked in

Chris: Tracy, Randle, Chuck Conder Tm 1 Ldr, Roy Clark Phoenix 1 CAG, and Alfred McFarland Maintenance Officer
My Maintenance Officer and CAG will be here shortly, Randy has just docked he brought Lionel Cochran Maintenance Officer,

James: thank you Have a seat. we’ll get started as soon as the others arrive,

Tracy and her crew took a seat, Randy and Lionel came in an took seats,

Linda Wailings, Derick Townsend and Sonja Trujillo arrived,

James go up and went to the podium, I asked you here because I found out some upsetting information, One of our pilots was hurt today due to disabling the ship AI, I have discussed this with my partners and we have decided to make some changes, first I want to show you the engagement were the ship was damaged, James started the engagement report, it show the patrol heading toward the 10 unidentified flight coming from the east gate, it showed the 5 hawks spread out and move toward the 3 buzzard then hawk 22 & 23 broke formation and headed toward the 7 Falcons, as they approached 2 falcons attacked hawk 22. hawk 22 opened on the 6 incoming missiles, and launched 4 missiles on the falcons, 22 destroyed 2 but took 4 hits and lost power as the falcons evaded 22 missiles then turned to finish 22 off, it showed them being intercepted by hawk 1 and 2, then it switched to hawk 23 who was being engaged by 3 falcons 23 engaged the 8 incoming missiles with his turrets and launched 4 missiles at the incoming ships used his main guns on one of the tgts and disabled it the turrets took out all of the missiles then fired at the falcon that was trying to get on his six and forced it to evade away from 23, when the first falcon was disabled 23 turned to engage the next nearest one as the rest of the patrol arrived and took them out,

James: 23 responded correctly we found that 22 had disabled his AI, and was unable to use his turrets on the incoming missiles, and resulted in the ships damage, I want a review board set up to examine this engagement and the pilots actions, Randle handle that ok.

Randle: yes sir.

James: I have got some upgrades that I want done on all ships, Jeff pass out the mod sheets please.

Jeff grabbed the sheets that Jake printed and passed them out,

James: as you can see the estimated time for the mod completion is 2 Stazuras per ship, I expect the entire fleet to be done in 1 Tazura, and I will expect a report that the modifications are done by lunch tomorrow.

James: that’s all I have, is there any questions or comments,

The room remained quite, as James took his seat and Chris took the podium,

Chris: this is serious business, lets get the mods done. Tracy, Randle, Chuck and McFarland stand by the rest are dismissed, and Chris follows the others out and closes the door,

Mike takes the podium, we pulled the log from 22 and found that the AI had been disconnect for quite a while, do you have the maintenance records for 22?

McFarland stood: yes sir, and hands the data pad to Mike,

Mike scans the records found that the maintenance personnel had noted that the AI had been disconnected, with a note that the pilot said he was training w/o the AI and would hook it back up , this entry appeared 6 times in the log. But never had been reported to the Maintenance Officer, Mike this cant happen, this should have been fixed right then and reported , the seconded incident should have been reported to the CAG there should not have been a third,

Randle stood: Sir this will not happen again, and I will report back the enquiry boards decision.

Mike: very well, James do you have any thing to add?

James: not at this time, I need to head to AP, Tracy come with us you can co pilot for me,

Tracy: yes sir. As the group leave the room,

James, Tracy and Jeff head to the docking bay and enter James’ ship Jeff goes to his and enters.

James: you fly I need to relax for a while.

Tracy: you sure?

James: yes

Tracy: ok and sits in the pilot seat and straps in, Jake Prepare to un dock and head to AP.

Jake: roger. Hatch secured, departing ship, sector clear, course set, Jump point in 5 Sezuras.

James watched as Tracy checked the weapons load out and the sector screens,

Jeff: on your 9, ready when you are,

Tracy: roger jump in 2 Sezuras, 1 Jump’

Jake: jumping, entering sector AP, sector clear, destination?

Tracy; trading station,

Jake: course set, requesting docking permission,

Jake docking granted, entering docking path, entering station, docking j-21 landing clamps secured, opening hatch.

James unbuckled his harness and headed to the hatch with Tracy right behind, they met up with Jeff and headed to the main concourse,

James: this place is busy today, as they made there way thru the crowded passage way, finally it opened up into the main concourse and they headed toward the lounge,

Upon entering James requested a seat in the observation room, the Hostess checked and found them a table near the window, James informed her that there was more persons coming and gave her his card to place on the board so the rest of his party would know that he was here already, the Hostess seated them, passed out menus and left,

A waiter arrived with a pitcher of water and some glasses, pored a glass for each of them and asked for there orders,

James, some coffee I will order when the rest of my party arrives,

Jeff: Ice tea please,

Tracy: coffee please,

The waiter said he would be right back with there drinks,

The waiter returned with the drinks, passed them out and left,

James was looking out at the ships arriving at the station, when Thresica arrived,

Thresica: Hi, and takes a seat next to James, I have been busy, the escorts have destroyed 7 ships that tried to attack the transports and capped 5 Falcons that are parked at the HQ, we’ve received 1.896.788 cr in rewards, in the 4 Tazuras that you have been out of the loop, and shipping is doing great, Anjanette and Sherry tells me that they have had to turn some transport and Escort jobs away, Susan ahs requested 3 transports and 6 escorts ships with pilots, says she has more business then she can handle right now.
I looks like tings are growing faster then we can handle,

James: that’s good news, along with the new stations I have ordered for Aladna Hill, I plan on ordering another Phoenix 2 for Tracy, she will be coming to the HQ to select her crew after the ship is ordered, I am going to KE tomorrow I’ll check on getting the ships for Susan and possibly some for HQ, How have you been the last Wozura?

The waiter arrived and took Thresica’s drink order, and left

Thresica: I’ve been busy with getting the crew for the ore belt station, and finding quarters for the 10 Pilots that arrived,

James: 10 more pilots good Ill pick them up tomorrow and take them with me to KE,

Thresica: I will notify them when I get back and have them ready to go by 0730 tomorrow.

James: Good,

The waiter returned with Thresica’s drink and took orders for there meals, and left.


James: so how is the HQ doing?

Thresica: its doing very well, all the shops are rented and most of the apts

James: that’s wonderful, Mike was worried that it would not do well.

Jeff: I told him that it would do good when people saw it was a secure place.

The waiter returned with there meals and passed them out, asked if he could get any thing else?

James: some more coffee please,

Waiter: yes sir right away, and left

Jeff: How’s the wheat farm doing,

Thresica: its constantly making a profit, and the shipping is doing very well.

Jeff that’s good, Susan deserves it, after what she’s been thru.

Thresica: Susan has been asking about you,

Jeff blushes, No you kidding right?

Thresica: no I think she likes you.

Jeff shakes his head and starts eating,

The waiter returned with coffee and other drinks tops ever one off and leaves.

They finish there lunch, James: Thresica I’ll will see you tomorrow, and stands and goes to the cashier and pay for lunch,

Jeff leaves a tip on the table and they all walk to the docking bay, when they were asked if they were heading to PC, Thresica: I am.

One of the three introduces him self as an navy pilot assigned to Hawks security service and asks if she knows were it is located in PC,

Thresica: yes I work there and this gentleman owns it, as she points to James.

James: I’m James Hawk How can I help you,

We were looking for a ride to your station in PC, Glade to meet you I’m LTC Bart McCoy this is LTC Carl Vinson and Maj Virgil Rosario, we’ve been assigned to work for you, and there were 4 more pilots here a little while ago the were looking for ships heading to PC.

James: welcome aboard, Thresica here is my Office manager You can ride with her to the station and she will get you settled in I’ll see you in the 8.00 AM,

Jeff I’ll check with the station controller and see if the pilots are still here, and round them up.

James: ok

Thresica: Ill get the pilots settled in and some uniforms, I’ll send you a list of names, and have them standing by tomorrow.

James: thank you, see you tomorrow. Thresica turns and enter her ship.

Jeff returns with 4 Pilots, introductions are made then Jeff has the pilots load up in his ship, Jeff we need to make a short trip to PC, then enters his ship.

James: ok then he and Tracy enter the ship, Jake lets fly to PC

Jake hatch secured, departing station, heading to jump point,

James: Thresica we will be jumping with you, Jeff has 4 pilots to drop of at the HQ,

Thresica: ok, when your ready,

James jumping in 5 Sezuras, Jake link up with Hawk 2 and 5 for the jump,

Jake linked, jumping in 2 Sezuras, 1, Jumping, entering sector Power Circle, sector clear,

James saw the Patrol as the ship headed toward HQ.

Jake entering station, landing, hatch open,
James and Tracy exited the ship and met Jeff,

Thresica greeted the pilots and led them to her office,

James, lets go to Marissa’s shop,

Jeff: ok, I need some more flight suits and maybe some clothes too.

James and Tracy followed Jeff to Marissa’s shop and walked in.

Marissa: James Good to see you how can I help you?

James: we need some clothes, and heads over to the flight suits, James I could use 4 more of these, can you have our logo put on them?

Marissa: yes it take 30 Mizuras,

Jeff I need 6 of them too, and I will pick out some other stuff ok

Marissa: ok they be ready in 30 Mizuras,

James: Tracy go ahead and get some flight suits and another jacket.

Tracy: I could user them, but I didn’t want to spend the credits.

James: I’ll pay for them. Want you looking your best when you hire your crew, and have them get the same from here at co expense.

Tracy: if you say so, and picks out the flight suits and a new Jacket.

James: Marissa have new Jackets made for me and my partners and send them to Thresica,

Marissa: OK and Ill bill the account for them,

James: fine, James picks out some other things and puts them on the counter.
Along with Tracy’s and hand his card to Marissa who deducts the charges from his card and asked him to press the thumb scanner,

James pressed the scanner and heard the computer respond transaction complete,

Marissa: Ill have the flight suits sent to your ship,

James that will be fine, and he and Tracy leave the shop,

James: I need to stop by my suit and check on some things, do you have a place here?

Tracy: No

James: contact Dorothy and get a apt here for now then we will get you one in the sector you will be stationed in.

James enter the lift swipes his card and the lift starts. Then stops on the pent house floor, James exits the lift and walks to his apt and enters, the computer welcomes him home , James walks into his bed room, checks out his closet, then walks to the vault room and views the logs, then checks the inventory list sees that 47,987,654 CR has been added, then picks up a small case that has blasters in it, makes a notation on the Inventory list and secures the room, taking the case with him, leaves the apt and rides the lift down to the docking bay, walks to the repair bay finds Jeff checking out the upgraded Falcons, and hands him one of the blasters, We need to start carrying for our own safety, since we are authorized to protect our self’s.

Jeff: ok , but I’ve been carrying since we started the business. And hands back trhe blaster and pull his own from its back holster,

James: I should have known, is Mike or Sam carrying?

Jeff: Sam is, I don’t think Mike has a weapon,

James: ok, I will use the shoulder holster for now, and straps on the weapon. Checks the charge and settings, with the safety on he re holsters the weapon, I got to find Tracy then we can leave,

Jeff: the clothes were delivered several Mizuras ago,

James: thanks, then pulls out his communicator and calls Tracy.

Tracy: hi James I’m looking at my suite, its fantastic,

James: that’s good when your done meet me on the landing bay,

Tracy: I’ll be there shortly,

James : ok, see you when you get here, and closes the message.

James and Jeff left the repair bay and headed back to the docking area when they ran in to Tracy:

James: ready to go?

Tracy: yes I guess, but that the nieces place that I’ve ever had.

James: glade you like it, Jeff Meet me at the jump point,

Jeff: OK end heads to his ship

James and Tracy enter his ship, Tracy takes the copilot seat and straps in James strapped into his seat, Jake prep to undock,

Jake: systems on, hatch secured, lifting off, departing station,

James: Jeff lets jump to HOL and visit Susan,

Jeff: if you say so,

Tracy: did you plan that James, as she smiles it him.

James: No Just like to play match maker some times. Jake Link with Hawk 2 and jump to HOL,

Jake: linked preparing to jump, Jumping, entering sector HOl, warning 2 Pirate ships Identified 2 Busters identified as tgt 1 & 2

James: Jeff take tgt 2 Jake set intercept coarse to tgt 1

Jake: coarse laid in engaging thrusters intercept in 8 Sezuras,

James watch as the busters open fire on a personal transport, the transport evades some of the fire but his shield are taking a beating and drop to 50%

Jake: target entering firing range engaging,

James sees the tgt react to the incoming fire and breaks off his attack on the transport and turns to engage James but his shield were dropping fast and when they reached 13% he bailed,

Jake : tgt disabled capping, sector police in rout to pick up pilot, tgt 2 destroyed tgt 1 scanned no contra band send to wheat farm,

James: contacted the transport and asked there status,

Transport: thank you for your intervention, I have some VIP headed to AP, I lost 1 shield generator, but Ill be fine once I make the gate, if you be so kind as to escort me to the gate for 15,000 credits

James: be glade to. Jeff Lets see that the ship gets to the gate,

Jeff: I got a call from sector police asking me to land and file a report,

James: call them tell them we will do that after we get the transport to the gate.

Jeff :Ok

James: Jake follow the transport and keep a close eye out for more pirates.

Jake: roger, incoming call from sector police,

James: Hawk security,

SP: sorry Mr Hawk for the first call, you can file a report it your convinces, we thank you for your help. The two pilots have been picked up, and we will have them identified shortly, again Thank you for your help, the communications closed.

James: How do you like that,

Jeff: cool,

Jake: approaching gate arrival in 10 Mizuras.

James watches as the ships approach the gate,

Jake: incoming transmission

Transport: if you are ready to receive the funds we are ready to transmit the transaction codes,,

James: Jake receive the funds and send them a receipt and requests a copy of the engagement report.

Jake: funds received, engagement report received, receipt sent,

Transport: receipt received Thank you Mr Hawk, your service is greatly appreciated. Thank you

James: your welcome, bye the communications closed,

James: lets go see SP and file the report.

Jeff: ok

James : Jake lane on the trade station

Jake: roger, coarse laid in, arrival in 15 Mizuras, warning 3 unidentified ships entering sector, identified 3 Pirate falcons,

James: set intercept coarse,

Jake: coarse set intercept in 5 Mizuras,

James: engage boosters, Jeff we have more work,

Jeff: roger I see them, sector Police heading toward tgts.

James we’ll get them first.

Jake: 2 Mizuras to tgt 1,

James checks the weapons load out changes the missiles to wasps,

Jake: 1 Mizuras to tgt, 30 Sezuras, 15, 10, 5, tgt entering firing range missiles launched, turrets tracking.

James launches two Wasps at tgt 2 and 3

Jake: engaging, turrets engaging tgt evading, incoming missiles destroyed, tgt shields at 50% tgt 2 disabled Hawk 2 engaging tgt 3 tgt 1 shields at 20%, 15%, 10%, 6%, pilot ejecting tgt1 disabled capping tgt’s 1&2, tgt 3 disabled scanning tgt 1 space weed found ejecting, ship capped send to wheat farm scanning tgt 2 no contraband detected ship capped sending to wheat farm, tgt 3 capped heading to wheat farm. Sp picking up pilots,
Incoming message,

SP: Hello Mr. Hawk I’m Captain McConnell Sector Police Chief of HOL, I have the three pilots in custody, I will notify you of our findings, If you wand you can send the engagement report to me an I’ll fill it for you.

James: thank you but we were coming to visit you and turn in the report for the earlier engagement, I’ll fill both of them, I’ll follow you in ok,

Cpt McConnell: My pleasure follow me,

James and Jeff took up position to McConnell’s Left and followed hi to the trade centre, and docked, James linked up with Jeff and they walked to the Police station, were Cpt McConnell was waiting for them.

Cpt McConnell: Hello Mr. Hawk its my pleasure to finally meet you,

James: yes I know your predecessor, and shakes his hand, this is my partner andf wing man Jeff Collins,

McConnell: good to meet you Mr. Collins

Jeff: Thank you Just call me Jeff everyone else does, and I’m not use to the Mr. yet

McConnell: Fine.

Jeff: here is a copy of both engagements,


McConnell: takes the data chip, Lets go into my office,, turns and leads the way

McConnell unlocks the door and directs James and Jeff in, Have a seat, con I get you some refreshments?

James: no thank you

Jeff: I’m fine thank you

McConnell sits down and inserts the data chip into his reader and looks at the report,
Then opens a new screen, Yes, the first to pilots that were arrested were known slave traders and had a large bounty on there heads, 2.6 Mil credits, and a reward or 75,000 from Argon civil services for you for protecting the Senators’ traveling in the ship you rescued. Do you want me to transfer it to you?

James: No have it sent to this account and hands him a debit card,

McConnell takes the card and swipes it in the reader, press a few keys, Done and hands the card back to James, He then Looks at the next engagement report, I have noted your info and will notify your Co. when we have these 3 pilots Identified, Thank you for your services,

James: Your welcome stands shakes hands and leaves the office,

James: that was a good payment for the pirates and escorting the transport to the gate

Jeff: yes it was, did you see any patrol’s from the wheat farm?


James no I didn’t see any, lets go to the wheat farm I’ll check on it.

They head to the landing dock , , as James & Jeff entered the docking bay there were three sector police checking out there fighters,

Policeman 1: that sure is a nice looking fighter, is it new I don’t recognize the stile?

James: its my one design.

Policeman 2: not seen much battle there’s no scars on it?

James: I guess I don’t give them a chance to hit me, I’ve destroyed and capped more ship then I can count.

Policeman 3: I’ve heard of hawks security, they cleaned up power circle, Haven’t they?

James: Yes

Policeman 1: were can we get these fighters at?

Jeff: you cant.

James: as I said there my design, and I have them special made, if the pirates ever get there hands on one of these, they’ll kill every police ship they come across. But not to worry I don’t plan on losing any.,

James: Jake lets go to the wheat farm.

James entered his ship Jake lets go to the wheat farm,

Jake: roger, Hatch secure, powering up, lifting off, exiting station coarse laid in, engaging thrusters, arrival in 10 Mizuras,

James watched Jeff take up his wing man position.

Jeff: they sure were checking out our ships,

James: yes they were, I guess they haven’t seen any before, I wonder if they even patrol near the wheat farm.

Jeff: yea, if they patrol this sector they should have seen the patrol from the wheat farm.

James: unless the wheat farm doesn’t send out patrols.


James: watched the scanner for the WF patrol, saw 4 fighters exit the WF,

Jeff: I spotted the patrol.

James: I’ll check on them


Jake: docking in 5 Mizuras,

James were did that patrol go ?

Jeff: I don’t know.

Jake: preparing to dock, entering station, landing, hatch open, powering down systems.

James left the ship and walked over to Jeff, you want to check in with Susan while I check on the Patrols?

Jeff: Ok

James: went to look for the CAG, stoped a pilot walking thru the landing bay and asked were could he find the CAG?

Pilot: we don’t have one all we got is Sam McCarty the Dock Manager,

James: and your name is?

Pilot: Harry Perkins at your service,

James: how come you don’t ware the issued flight suit?

Harry: I just ware it when I’m on duty,

James: ok, were can I find Mr. McCarty

Sam: probability in the station office,

James: thank you, and turns and leaves, enters the lift swipes his card and selects station security office. As James left the lift he was greeted by Quinton Security Chief,

Quinton: Hello Mr. Hawk how can I help you,

James: could you locate McCarty for me and have him come to your office, and I have some questions for you lets go into your office,

Quinton: sure follow me, and he has one of his personnel contact McCarty,

James enters Quinton’s office as Quinton closes the door. What can I answer for you?

James: how many patrol ships do you have,

Quinton: 4 patrol .and 8 escort ships,

James: how are the patrols set up?

Quinton: I don’t know McCarty handles them and the escorts,

James: Thank you,

Quinton: your welcome, is there a problem?

James: I hope not I just didn’t see a patrol when I arrived.

There was a knock and the door opened and Irene Kane, Security Chief Ass leaned in : Mr. McCarty is here,

Quinton: show him in, Thank you ,

McCarty entered and Irene shut the door, Quinton introduced James and said he be out side then left,

McCarty: how can I help you?

James: I noted that there were no patrols out when I arrived, and I was wondering why,

McCarty sat for a Mizura collecting his thoughts: well we only have 4 fighters for patrol and I only send them out when a pirate patrol approaches the station.

James: but you have other fighters, don’t you?

McCarty: yes we have 8 escorts fighters,

James: and are they all out on runs?

McCarty: no only three are out on runs I didn’t send out any with the local runs.

James: thank you, I will ensure that you have enough fighters to have a patrol up at all times, It’s a great deterrent. And I will assign a CAG to take control if them, and the escorts, James stands and walks out of the office with McCarty following, James thanked Quinton, and left the security room, then walked to station management office and walked in and asked if Susan was in, he was greeted by Lucille Dejesus, Station Manager Asst.

Lucille: how can I help you Mr. Hawk?

James I’m looking for Susan,

Lucille: I think she went to the lounge with Mr. Collins


James: thank you, as he turns and leaves the office and heads to the lift, enters : Lounge, the lift starts to ascends announces concourse 2 and lounge the doors open James exits and turns right walks to the lounge and enters, and is greeted by Karla Roach the Hostess

Karla: May I help you ?

James: yes I’m Looking for Susan McCormick,

Karla: if you will follow me I’ll take you to her table,

James follows Karla to the observation room, were James spots Jeff and Susan sitting by the observation window, follows Karla up to the table , Susan spots James and stands;

Susan: Hello James sit with us,

James takes a seat, Hi Susan.

Karla: the waitress will be here shortly, and leaves.

Susan: Jeff has told me your concerns about the patrols, I try not to get involved with that, Mr. McCarty takes care of it.

James: I know I have spoken with him. He advised me of the situation here, I will have some more patrol fighters sent along with a CAG to handle it.

Susan: good, we haven’t had any trouble here, business is doing great and I have requests that I can’t take, I have requests to deliver to Emperors Mines and Priest’s Pity that were very large orders but that is a bad area and I’m afraid to send ships that far,

James: take them the ships can take care of them self’s, and if they need help they can call I am adding another carrier for that purpose, and if your business grows to the point that we need another one I’ll get it.

Susan: thank you, I have a large deposit to send to the HQ it’s almost a billion credits, I’ve been to busy to send it would you like for me to transfer it to you?

James: Thank you but no send it to Thresica, I don’t want to mess up her accounting,
It will help the expansion, and Ill be sending you some more super transports,

Susan: that’s good news. I couldn’t persuade you to leave Jeff here to help me, could I?

James: that would be up to Jeff,

The waitress arrived with a carafe of coffee and pored James a cup, and refilled Susan’s and Jeff’s cups. Then left

James picked up his coffee and stood to look out the observation window, there was a lot of transport coming and going but James did not see any patrols up.

James: sat his cup down, I’m going to my ship to make some calls and check on my ship order, It’s been nice seeing you again, Jeff call me when your ready,

Jeff: ok

James left the lounge and went to the dock area, entered his ship, Jake get me Salas on the line please, and close the hatch,

Jake: roger, hatch closed,

James sat down at his desk and plugged in his data pad, checked the ship listings,

Jake: I have Salas on line,

James: Salas how are you,

Salas: always better when you call, because I know I will be making a lot of credits,

James laughs, : you are right I need to check on my ship order and request some more.

Salas: the order will be ready in the morning we are finishing up on the carrier, I have 30 Fighters for you and 6 transports ready,

James: that is wonderful news, I would like to order another 30 fighters and 8 transports, And I may need another carrier soon,

Salas: I have 10 Fighters and 4 transports available now would you like to pick them up tomorrow?

James: yes, wonderful news

Salas: the other 20 fighters and 4 transports will be ready in 3 Tazuras, if we start on the Carrier I can have it done in 1 Mazura, will it bee like Phoenix 2 or 3

James: Phoenix 3

Salas: that will cut 1 Wozura off the build time,

James: go ahead and build it, I’m sure I’ll need it.

Salas: wonderful you have just paid for my vacation,

James laughs: I’ll give you a bonus for having the other ships ready you name it,

Salas: no,, no I was just kidding, you have made me a very rich Boron and my ship yard as the best in the universe, due to you and Mr. Galen I could not ask for more.

James: ok but I would give you a bonus if you asked, I’ll see you in the morning,

James called Thresica,

Thresica: Hi James

James: hi, just wanted to give you a heads up we will be picking up 40 fighters and 10 super transports and 1 carrier tomorrow, I need you to scrape up as many crews is possible use the off duty pilots and I’ll bring Phoenix 1 with us to help,

Thresica: I’ll do the best I can,

James: you are wonderful, thank you and closes the communication, looks at the clock 5:10pm local, Jake: get commander Danna for me,

Jake: roger, I have Commander Dana on line

James: Ban How are you,

Ban: good I’m glade you called I would like to see the new carrier you are getting when will you be picking it up,

James: that is what I’m calling about, I’m picking it up tomorrow along with 40 fighters and I need some crews if you have any,

Ban: good I’d like to go with you, let me check and see what personnel I can round up see you in the morning say 6:30 can you pick me up,

James: yes I’ll be there, see you then

Ban: ok, let me find some crews and closes the connection,

James: Jake get Tracy for me,

Jake: roger, I have Tracy on line,

James: Tracy, we will be Picking up the carrier along with 40 Hawk fighters and 10 Sparrows in the morning, Ban is trying to round up some crews, and I want to take Phoenix 1 with to assist in loading the ships so have him park his fighters on the station along with his sparrows, but keep the pilots on board, Inform Mike and Sam for me OK

Tracy: that’s wonderful, I will take care of it,

James: thank you, I should be there soon, and closes the connection,

James: Jake get Jeff for me,

Jake: roger, Jeff is online,

James: Jeff we are picking up 1 carries 40 Hawks and 10 Sparrows in the morning are you about ready to head to Ore Belt,

Jeff: wonderful, I’ll be right there. And closes the connection,

James: Jake prepare to undock and jump to ore belt.

Jake: roger

Jeff arrived at 1730 entered his ship and called James: anytime your ready, we can go.

James: ok, undocking ,

James: lets go Jake,

Jake: undocking, exiting station, coarse set for Gate,

James watched the scanner as the ship approached the gate,

Jake: entering gate, entering Ore Belt, warning tgt lock

James saw 2 patrol ships in front of him then saw 2 more to his rear, opened coms Patrol this is James Hawk,

Amanda: Hello Mr. Hawk this is Amanda Blake Tm2 Ld looks like you jumped into my training,

James: yes I did , was that a gate trap?

Amanda Yes I’m showing are trainees how to set one up,

James: good job they would have seceded,

Amanda: thank you , you can pass thru,

James: Thank you, Jake head for Phoenix 1,

Jake: roger coarse set engaging thrusters,

James: noted that the two new LT had been deployed around the trading station,

Jake: approaching ship, entering, landing, hatch open,

James exited the ship to find Tracy, , Mike and Sam waiting for him.

James: a welcoming committee, Mike no a dinner party lets go to the mess hall I have already ordered dinner,

James: ok, lets collect Jeff and go.

Jeff was exiting his ship, and was gathered up by the group and all headed to the mess hall were James saw that a large table with coffee, tea, and other pitchers of drinks had been set up,

James: took a seat at the head of the table, with Jeff on his right and mike on his left, tho others found seats,

Mike: I thought we should celebrate, I heard the news about the ships we will get tomorrow,

James: ok, I say it calls for a celebration, I was surprised when Salas told me how many ships I could pick up, especially the Carrier, I called Ban to see if he could help out, H said he would and want to go with us tomorrow, we have to pick him up at 6:30 local

Mike: I think he’ll be impressed with the ship.

James: I hope so.

The group watched as the steward placed a large argnu stake on there plates along with stake fries as another placed salads, when every one had been served, the stewards left.

Jeff: this sure looks good

Sam who had not waited, : It tastes good too.

The others laugh at him trying to talk with his mouth full, as they started in on there own,

James: Randle did you park the ships on the station?

Randle: they should be finishing up, Ill check when I get back to the bridge.

James: let me know if there is any problems,

Randle: roger,

After dinner they were server ice cream and cherry pie,

James That was a good meal,

Every one agreed,

Jeff: I want to check out my ship before I turn in , and leaves the mess hall,

Mike: Sam lets check out the ships, then he and Sam leaves the mess hall,

Randle: I’ll give you an update before you turn in, and leaves,

Tracy: I have no Ship to check on so I’m going to my Cabin, and leaves,

James finishes his coffee as the steward clears off the table, stands : that was an excellent meal my complements to the chef, and leaves.

James arrived at his cabin enters and lays out his clothes for tomorrow, takes a shower, then sat down and turned on his data pad, and checked for messages, then checked out his account, then shut down the data pad, packed it into his carry on bag and went to bed.

[Ed Man]

Good to see you back at it Keep up the good work